The True Bride of The Living Dummy

If The Dress Fits, Wear It

Madam Doom soon poked her head out of the tent, almost as if on queue, and peered out at them.

"Ah! Your majesty, I was expecting you!" She stated croakily as she stepped of the tent and approached them. "And you're just on time, too!"

Slappy chuckled and nodded. "It was a hectic morning, but we made it." He said as he presented Belinda to her. "Here's the lucky girl, make sure my bride-to-be looks simply ravishing." He added with a wink as he turned to leave. "I best be going on my way, now. I have duties to take care of."

Madam Doom smiled warmly, her eyes crinkled in the corners with delight.

"But of course, see you tonight, master." She called out to him before turning to Belinda.

Belinda looked at her in return.

"Well?" Madam Doom questioned as she placed her hand on her hips. "Let's get on with it! We're wasting daylight, and we've got plenty of work that needs to be done!" She said as she hurried Belinda into the tent.

She led Belinda into the back of the tent where the dressing room was located.

"Please remove your dress, but keep your undergarments on." Madam Doom ordered as she pointed to a rack where Belinda could hang her clothes on. "Once you finish, meet me on the other side of the drapes where the fabrics are located."

Belinda nodded as Madam grabbed a sewing kit off one of the stools and disappeared behind the drapes.

Belinda looked around the tent, her eyes observing the large spools of fabric that splashed the area with color.

She swiftly unzipped her dress and slipped herself out of it, gently hanging it upon the rack before heading to the area Madam Doom ordered her to go to.

Madam Doom was already presented there, digging through her sewing kit to retrieve a miniature pumpkin pin-holder that was covered in every inch with pins.

She then walked over to the middle of the room, dragging a small wooden stool with her as she set it down in front of a vaguely large mirror.

"Stand up here, dearie." She demanded as she patted the little wooden stool.

The girl nodded and walked over, doing as she was told.

Madam Doom then made her way to the other side of the room to recover a giant spool of silky white fabric. She then returned back to Belinda as she set her things down on a table before pulling out a measuring tape as she got behind the girl.

Madam Doom wrapped it around Belinda's bust and torso, sizing her up as she wrote the measurements down on a notepad, mumbling numbers as she did so.

"You got a nice figure, and not bad posture either." She stated to Belinda as she whipped out a pair of scissors and began to cut away a large amount of fabric from the spool.

"Oh, thanks..." Belinda replied.

"I have an idea of a design that would compliment your form. However, this is going to take a lot of patience and time, so please cooperate with me as much as you can." Madam Doom explained to her.

The lady gently clutched the soft fabric in her bony hands as she paced back over to Belinda, wrapping the silky drape around Belinda's waist.

She then plucked out some pins from the pin holder, and stuck them through the fabric in certain places to keep the fabric tightly snugged around Belinda's body.

The fabric felt smooth against Belinda's bare skin, and it was remarkably comforting too.

Madam Doom continued to cut more pieces of fabric as well as mend the drapes into a dress.

"I thought you were a fortune teller?" Belinda questioned for the lady quietly, looking at her with curiosity as she tried to balance on the stool.

Madam Doom didn't remove her eyes from her work in progress of stitching the dress together, but still replied.

"Of course I am, and I have been for many, many years." She explained as she hemmed the dress so it caressed Belinda's upper form. "Sewing is just a hobby of mine I do to take my mind off things for a bit. It helps me find peace rather than people's future."

Belinda nodded slowly as she glanced at herself in the mirror in front of her.

The dress was really coming together nicely; the top part of it was tight and clutched her torso in the most perfect way, the sleeves were lightly puffed and off the shoulder, and the bottom of the dress cascaded into a long, beautiful white gown.

Once Madam Doom finished pinning the dress design into place, she extracted a sewing needle and a spool of white thread from her sewing basket, and began the process of sewing the dress together.

She was careful to make every stitch perfect, taking her time as she went.

Many hours passed as Madam Doom focused heavily on finishing the gown.

Once her work was finished she stepped away feeling fully satisfied.

"My dear, the time has come, and I must say what a lovely dress I made, if I say so myself. Must be my best piece yet." Madam Doom admired put loud in approval.

Belinda looked at the mirror, stunned. She smiled with joy as she stared at herself in the mirror.

The dress was the most gorgeous thing she's ever seen.

"The point of my idea for the dress," Madam Doom said as she interrupted Belinda's thoughts. "is to bring out the attention of you wearing it. I want people to see you walk down that isle and say, 'Wow, look at how beautiful Belinda is in that dress' , not, 'Wow, look how beautiful that dress looks on Belinda."

Belinda smiled with a burst of happiness happiness as she threw her arms around Madam Doom, hugging her with joy.

"Thank you... Thank you so much!!" She whispered excitedly to the lady.

Madam Doom smiled softly and hugged the girl back in a mother-like way.

"Anytime my dear, if you ever need anything, I'm always here." She replied gently, stroking Belinda's cheek.

She suddenly saw her crystal ball flash purple and rushed over to her desk to pick it up.

As she gazed into it, she gawked when she saw the time.

"Goodness! We've got to get you going!" Madam Doom exclaimed as she placed her crystal ball back down and rushed back over to Belinda, unzipping the back of the gown so Belinda can slip out of it.

"Quickly, quickly! I'll box this up for you along with a few other accessories for the wedding that you can wear. You expected back to the Haunted Castle immediately with Sarabeth, she will be here any minute. She will help get you ready and styled up for tonight." Madam Doom explained rapidly as she neatly folded up the wedding gown into a box, adding in a pair of white heels, earrings, a white chocker, a garter, and a vail she had prepared for Belinda ahead of time.

She then closed the box and handed it to Belinda, who had already gotten dressed back into her regular clothes and shoes.

Madam Doom cupped Belinda's chin in her wrinkly hand and looked at her.

"Good luck, sweet cheeks. I will see you tonight." She stated as she patted Belinda's head and rushed her out of the tent where a witch was waiting for them.

"Hello, kitty. I'm Sarabeth, it's nice to meet you." The witch said with a smile.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you too!" Belinda replied as she grinned softly.

"Good, are you ready to go? We've got a whole makeover planned ahead of us!" Sarabeth said with a thumbs up as she took a bottle of green liquid out of her bag.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Belinda said confidently, clutching the box that contained her dress tightly to her chest.

"Great, off we go!" The witch exclaimed as she uncapped the glass bottle, causing the green liquid to descend into a mist that surrounded the two, using its magic to teleport them both back to the Haunted Castle.